Cheney won this round:
Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to closing the detention center for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and moving some of the detainees to prisons on U.S. soil, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.
By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn't be closed. By more than 3-1, they oppose moving some of the accused terrorists housed there to prisons in their own states.
Is there any other issue on which Republicans hold such favorable ground? If President Obama is to force through his plan to close Gitmo, he will need to dramatically alter the political facts on the ground. Congress cannot possibly reverse course in the face of overwhelming public opposition and with Republicans exploiting the administration's every move as evidence that the president is soft on terror. The numbers are trending in the wrong direction for the president, and despite the best efforts of the Democratic party and the media to paint Cheney as an unpopular voice carrying an unpopular message, the debate has been decided in his favor.
The president, of course, has the power to ignore public opinion and, to a lesser extent, Congress in his push to close the detention facility. The REAL ID Act may prevent Obama from releasing terrorists into the United States, but he may not be deterred by Congressional statute, and Congress's power of the purse will not prevent the president from closing the prison if he is determined to do so. The only real obstacle to closing Gitmo -- aside from the direct threat posed to the safety of Americans, a threat for which this administration seems to have little regard -- is public opinion.
So what do you do if youre policies are at odds with public opinion? You seek political cover. Enter John McHugh, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and cosponsor of the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act. McHugh, if he were so inclined, might be able to soften resistance among Republicans in addition to providing the administration with some cover in the public debate. Is he so inclined, and are Republicans reconcilable on this issue? I'm skeptical on both counts, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear President Obama go all 'even John McHugh, my Republican Secretary of the Army, says these detainees...'
